Coalition’s suit centers on ownership of Green Globe name

The Green Building Initiative, a Portland nonprofit coalition that assesses and certifies environmentally friendly building practices through the Green Globes program, is suing a California company for trademark infringement.

GBI claims Green Globe International Inc. of Murrieta, Calif., has illegally used the trademarked name to operate a certification system for environmentally friendly building design. In the lawsuit, GBI identifies itself as the first organization to be accredited as a standards developer by the American National Standards Institute.

On its Web site, Green Globe International claims to be “the exclusive worldwide owner of the Green Globe brand, the premier international symbol for the environmental responsibility and response to global climate change.”

Mark Rossolo, GBI’s director of state and local outreach, said the organization in 2004 launched its effort to brand the Green Globe name and build its reputation as a leading guidance and assessment program that offers an effective, practical and affordable way to advance the overall environmental performance and sustainability of commercial buildings.

“We have the rights to the Green Globe name in the U.S. and we are going to vigorously protect that,” he said, adding there are about 77 Green Globe buildings in the U.S. that GBI has assessed and certified through the program.

Representatives from Green Globe International failed to respond to requests for comments about the lawsuit. According to the company’s Web site, the Green Globe brand and program were launched in 1992 during the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Green Globes certification is the leading, third-party, independent recognition of sustainability efforts based on internationally accepted documentation, the Web site states.

GBI, which is governed by 15 directors representing the construction and architecture sectors, nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions and industry, was created through an effort to help local homebuilder associations develop green building programs modeled after the National Association of Home Builders’ Model Green Home Building Guidelines.

GBI states that it finalized an agreement to bring the Green Globes program into the U.S. commercial construction market while developing a strategic partnership with the NAHB. According to GBI, the Green Globes program originally was developed in Canada.